What A Surprise
by Kazumei
Summary: 11 year old Yasa is to become State Alchemist at the hands of Roy Mustang. Then she's paired with another kid and a suit of armor! What next?
1. State Alchemist?

**Disclaimer:** **I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or any part for that matter, unfortunately.**

**What A Surprise**

Chapter 1: State Alchemist?

"Aah! What a beautiful day today!" yawned Yasa.

Yasa got out of her bed and looked out the window to gaze at Central as she usually did. She had a room on the second floor with her own bathroom. So she opened the curtains to her window and let the light flood the entire room. Yasa skipped over to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for her job at her family's restaurant. She decided to wear her favorite yellow shirt and her blue pleated skirt.

"Hm. I think I'm feeling green today," she said.

She then grabbed two leaves from the flowers on her dresser and placed it on her head. Yasa drew half of a transmutation circle on her forehead to her hair then pressed her hands on it. With a flash of light, her hair turned a shade of jade green.

Afterwards, she ran downstairs to set everything for the day then she opened the store. As an 11 year-old girl, no customer gave her any trouble. They expected it. Though everytime something broke or needed fixing, she used her alchemy to renew them. In the restaurant, she's usually the entertainment by transmuting a foot stool into a bookshelf, the air into water or fire, a picture frame into a window, a mug into a sword, and so on. Yasa was a little skilled in just about every field of alchemy.

"Welcome to the Kanto's fine dining restaurant, where you always get the last laugh!" exclaimed Yasa as she greeted the customers.

"You know Sushi, you don't have to do that everytime," laughed Mr. Kanno.

"Yeah dad's right! We always come just to see you!" said his 5 year-old daughter, Julia.

Another customer walked in and said, "So it's green pigtails today, huh?"

"Yep! My favorite color!" Yasa said.

"Yeah, if you have no originality," jeered a green-haired boy.

"What a lame joke, Taka-Baka."

"Stop calling me that, it's Takeshi!"

Takeshi was the same age as Yasa and was always rivaling her in almost everything, especially alchemy.

"Okay that's enough you two. Jeez, rivalries these days," said Mrs. Kanto.

"But he started it!" whined Yasa.

"You best behave yourself too, Takeshi" said Mr. Kanno.

"But dad," whined Takeshi also.

The beautiful sky turned gray and it started to rain heavily in the afternoon, but the day carried out as any normal day in Central's best restaurant. Yasa took customers' orders as her mom cooked the food. Her dad kept the place tidy and clean. Yasa had some help from her twin older brothers too. After everyone got settled in, it was time for Yasa to take on the challenges of the customers.

"Yeah yeah you're definitely good, but can you transmute this pipe into shoe?" said a guy with blonde somewhat spiky hair.

"You're making this all too easy!" laughed Yasa.

And in a second, the metal pipe was turned into a pair of metal shoes. It even came with laces that were flexible and not a trace of being stiff. Everyone clapped at her accomplishments and then got to their meals.

While everyone was enjoying themselves, an unfamiliar customer walked in. Yasa walked to him, closed her eyes, and said her lines delightfully. Though when she opened them she was taken aback. He was simply handsome. His smile was so kind yet it seemed as if he came here other than to eat or drink. He wore a military uniform and presented himself as if he were the king. His dark eyes were shining as he spoke in his smooth voice.

"Good afternoon, may I speak to your mother, Sushi?"

_What?_ Thought Yasa,_ no_ _one else knows that except everyone in this restaurant._

Even though she was creeped out, she led him to her mother at the back of the kitchen where he wanted to talk privately to her.

"Yo Sushi, who was that?" asked her brother, Cole.

"Some guy from the military," said Yasa.

"That was pretty obvious. We mean his name." said her other brother, Zac.

"How would I know? I don't get in people's business, much," Yasa said the last word quietly.

"Hey get back to your stations!" shouted their father to the huddled group.

"Righto!" they said automatically.

Fifteen minutes pasted ever since the stranger walked in to see Yasa's mother. Yasa, Zac, and Cole were starting to get suspicious until they heard someone shout behind the counter of the kitchen. Yasa ran to the back where her mother would be when she spotted her with the military man. She looked more angry and shocked than the time when Yasa accidentally transmuted Zac and Cole's bed into toothpicks of every color. No one seemed to be hurt though.

"What did you do, loser?" said Yasa fiercely.

"Whoa I wasn't expecting all of this now," said the mysterious man, smiling.

"Answer me or do I have to beat it outta you!"

"No need for violence," the man started, "I am Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang, and I would like to help you become a State Alchemist, Yasa."


	2. Another Confrontation

Chapter 2: Another Confrontation

"Me, State Alchemist?" Yasa was bewildered.

"Of course. I've been hearing rumors about an 11 year-old being something of a prodigy in Central from fellow State Alchemists. They say you can perform alchemy that some of them can't. If you ask me that's pretty impressive. It's only natural I'm asking this. In my hands, you will be the best alchemist anyone would know."

Yasa was definitely surprised, yet she liked the sound of her being a State Alchemist.

"Either way, you will become one if it's the last thing I do," he added lightly.

"Wait just a minute! No one's becoming anything until we've decided what's what!" shouted Mrs. Kanto.

"Very well, I understand," Roy said with a bit of a yawn.

Yasa and her mom walked out to the front to find everyone staring at them.

"Oh nothing's wrong! Just continue eating!" said Mrs. Kanto, sweating a bit.

She gestured for Zac, Cole, and her husband to come to her.

"Okay. This guy named Roy from the military wants our Sushi to become State Alchemist."

"State Alchemist?!" shouted the three men.

"State Alchemist?" said Takeshi shocked.

"Well now isn't that something," said a customer.

It was no use to keep this a secret now.

"That would be fantastic!" said a women.

Mr. Kanto, Zac, Cole, and everyone in the restaurant seemed to be nodding except for Mrs. Kanto and Takeshi.

"It's gonna be hard to give you up that easily but we can give it a try," Mrs. Kanto said. "It's just, you're still so young and being apart of the military. That's really too soon."

"Well, if everyone thinks I can then I will! I will try to become a State Alchemist! It's all right mom, I'll be fine. I'll be staying here with you. After all, the test is always in Central," smiled Yasa.

"I can't take this anymore!" shouted someone. "I, Takeshi, will rival you in your feeble attempt to become State Alchemist!"

"My my, this is certainly more entertaining then I had expected." Roy Mustang had emerged from the back of the kitchen with a smug look on his face. "Luckily for you, or for the both of you, you don't have to move from your homes since you already live in Central. So now you can prepare or study as much as you can from the comfort of your own home."

"Um, there's a problem," said Yasa, "I don't have any books or much material to really do anything on. All I've been doing was using household materials and transmuting them over and over."

Roy sighed. _I'm starting to doubt how she can be a State Alchemist with no references_, he thought.

"Hm, I guess I can make an exception. If it's all right with Mr. and Mrs. Kanto, I wish to take you with me to my house where you can study and have as much material as you need to pass the State Alchemist exam."

There was a bit of a suspenseful silence in the restaurant. No one said anything, they just waited for the answer from Mr. and Mrs. Kanto. All eyes were on them.

"Well Lilia, what do you think?" said Mr. Kanto.

"I don't know, Mile," she said after a while. "Roy Mustang, if you promise not to hurt our daughter or even make her feel uncomfortable, then it's okay."

"That is if our little Sushi wants to," added Mile.

Yasa's face brightened the instant she knew she could actually have studying material. Her green hair turned a lighter shade of green until it was bright pink. Everyone was amazed at how she didn't even have to change her hair color with a transmutation circle. Everyone clapped at the happening and the wonderful news.

Takeshi was furious that all the attention was on Yasa again. He stormed out of the store and rushed to his house to think of a special type of alchemy that Yasa hasn't had much practice in. He was willing to do anything to have everyone gaze at him in amazement.

After the bit of excitement at the Kanto's restaurant, it turned to evening and it was closing time. Roy hung around when everyone else filed out.

"Due to the time of the exams, it would be best to leave Yasa to me now."

"Now this moment?" asked Zac and Cole.

"Isn't it too soon? This is a bit of overwhelming news for one day," said Mile.

"Besides, this is our daughter we're talking about. Having her leave at an age like this is one thing but right now?" added Lilia.

"The exams are in a month, guys. I need to learn as much alchemy as I can. Besides, this is what I want. And aren't I going to get a title? I'd love to see which one I'd have!" smiled Yasa.

"Even though you're such a skilled alchemist, you're still a kid. Well, come on Yasa, we're leaving," said Roy.

"But what about my stuff?"

"I'll send someone over for them."

Yasa walked to Zac and Cole and gave them the biggest hug she could. Then she kissed her mom on the cheek and hugged her family good bye.

"Bye guys! I'll visit. I love you!" said Yasa happily.

"We love you too!"


	3. Tour

Chapter 3: Training

"So how far is your house? I can't believe I have a chance at being State Alchemist! You know, I've always been wondering how I could transport myself to another place with alchemy. Is-"

"Kid, your annoying me to the bone! We're going to my house in a car. You're just going to find out for yourself if there is a way to transport yourself using alchemy," said Roy, irritated.

Roy seated himself in the driver's seat while Yasa headed for the back. She was so annoyed at Roy since he cut her off.

_But I'm excited_, thought Yasa.

Twenty minutes pasted when they set off for his house.

"Wow."

Roy's house was huge but not a mansion. It was definitely bigger than any house Yasa has seen.

"So do you live with anyone else?" Yasa said as she followed him past the gates to his home.

"No," Roy said nothing more as they walked to the front door.

He had French doors that were decorated nicely. Though something seemed different about them. Yasa noticed that at the width of the door were transmutation circles from top to bottom. After the entered his home, Roy put his hands on the door and then the house flashed a bright light. Yasa had to shield her eyes.

"There's no need to go back out now is there," said Roy casually.

_I see_, she thought, _that was his security system_.

"Aren't you tired?" asked Yasa.

"You get used to it."

Yasa laughed then she looked around and was amazed. It definitely looked like someone lived here with him. It was a mess!

"I was meaning to get to that," Roy laughed, "Anyway, the library's upstairs."

Without another second, Yasa ran upstairs and opened to first door and she was so excited. There were rows and rows of books. She quickly dashed to the nearest shelf and engulfed herself into it.

"Well, if you need me I'm at the room upstairs on the other side of the house," Roy yawned, "I'm headed for bed. Good night Yasa."

Yasa stayed in the library so long she lost track of time. She decided to get out and check the time.

"Whoa, it's morning! I had no idea I spent so much time in here. Oh today is Sunday."

Yasa skipped down the stairs and thought of asking Roy where the kitchen was but decided to explore. She came across the bathroom, a huge closet, a living room, then finally the kitchen. She saw a little space in a corner and walked to it. There was a door that looked heavy with no doorknob. So she put her hands on it and shoved forward until she had to put alchemy into her push. It budged a bit but now she knew what to do. Yasa pressed her hands on the door to open it and after a bright light it was opened. Yasa was exhausted because she put a lot of alchemy into it. The door led to an empty area.

_Maybe I could use this to practice my alchemy!_ She thought.

Roy was in his room when he heard a sound coming from the kitchen.

"It must be Yasa," he sighed.

He walked down though the dining room to the kitchen and turned to the door that led to his basement. Then a thought creeped in his head. Roy became as quiet as he could be, moved toward her ear, and spoke softly.

"Good morning Yasa."

"Aaaaahhhh!!"

Yasa jumped and ran to the other side of the room holding her right ear.

"You scared the living day lights outta me!" shrieked Yasa. "What was that for?"

"Well that should teach you to snoop around in another person's home," Roy said smiling.

Yasa's face turned a light shade of pink. "I-I didn't know if you were sleeping or not so I didn't want to disturb you."

"I guess that's believable," he started, "This is the place you can practice alchemy that you haven't practiced much on or just to brush up. You can do whatever in here, just stay focused."

"Righto! But can I have some breakfast?"

Roy smiled at Yasa then turned for the refrigerator.

"Wait I can make us breakfast. You haven't lived until you've tasted my omelets!" exclaimed Yasa.

* * *

Roy watched in amazement while Yasa cooked up her omelet. She was so fast and stylish. It was no wonder she worked at the restaurant. When she was done, she forced Roy to taste it. He jumped out of his seat. 

"Oh my gosh! This…. This…."

"This….?"

"This is fantastic! Where did you learn to cook like this?"

"Myself. I don't like to take lessons."

When breakfast was over, Yasa was led to where she'd be staying in the next month. Her room was right next to Roy's and it was definitely bigger than her other room. It had a bathroom in it and a bookshelf. The bed was also bigger than her original bed like it would fit three people. Yasa was happy to have such a big room and it was painted a beautiful light green, her favorite color.

"Thanks Roy, it's so big!"

Later that day, Yasa took some books from the library then left for the hidden door in the kitchen. Yasa set her books down and placed her hands on the door. She expected herself to feel tired but not the same tiredness as before.

"Why doesn't this door tire me out so much?" she wondered.

Either way, that wasn't going to stop her from practicing. She picked up her books and trotted to the middle of the room.

* * *

Roy really had nothing better to do since he took the week off to see how Yasa would fare. He peeked though the door to the empty area.

"She's doing better than I thought," he said delightfully.

After about two hours, Roy brought in lunch for Yasa. But Roy dropped it to rush over to Yasa who seemed to have collapsed. She was sweating and looked limp but she was drawing a transmutation circle on the floor. Then Roy noticed that transmutation circles were all over the room, even the ceiling.

"I…created a new….transmutation circle," Yasa said almost inaudibly.

"Heh. You're too much," laughed Roy.

Roy picked Yasa up and carried her to her room.


	4. Good Times

Chapter 4: Good times

Roy sat on the edge of Yasa's bed as he waited for her to come to. He was in the middle of his little book when he saw a light from behind him. He turned around to see Yasa's eyes open and her hair shining. Her pink hair turned to blonde and her used to be purple eyes were now blood red. Then her eyes closed and she was sleeping peacefully again.

_What just happened?_, Roy thought. His eye twitched a bit. He was officially creeped out.

Yasa awoke hours later to find Roy sitting at the side of her bed reading a little book. It took him a while to realize she was conscious but when he did he smiled broadly.

"Have a nice nap?"

"Yep. Where am I? Oh my room. For how long though?" Yasa wondered.

"For about 11 hours."

"What?! What time is it?" Yasa gasped.

"It's 8 o' clock p.m." yawned Roy.

"I'm so tired but I have to tell you about my creation!" Yasa cleared her throat. "Ok, I was reading some books when I found out that there were specific transmutation circles for different transmutations. I was wondering why don't I just create my own circle for just about everything. So I was experimenting with various circles and tried to add a little of each to my circle. Unfortunately, I had to try out every piece of alchemy I know so that was tiring. Anyway, I finally created a universal transmutation circle! I just haven't been able to test it out. Oh and I've done something else before that. You know how the circle you use for creating flames are on your gloves, right? Well instead of having it on clothing, I can transmute it to my hands, my feet, my arms, my cheek, or anywhere I want on my body. I haven't really tried that out fully either but it's going to work!" Yasa took a deep breath when she was done.

"Yasa, how do you think of these things and in only your first day of training? And what do you mean you haven't tried it out fully?" Roy looked dumbstruck with his mouth slightly ajar.

"Well I've always wondered. It's just that since I wasn't a State Alchemist, I couldn't go into the huge library. And because if my mom knew about what I was doing then she'd stop me from doing any form of alchemy. It's just because one time I tried to transmute the circles on my hands but I started I feel this sharp pain so I stopped. I was too afraid to do it until now."

Roy was bewildered. He has never encountered anyone with a mind such as Yasa's.

"You are a very special girl, Yasa. You're just filled with so many surprises."

"You have no idea," said Yasa quietly.

"What?"

"Nothing! Anyway, I'm so hungry! Do you have any noodles?" Yasa's face shined when she smiled.

_Many surprises indeed_, thought Roy.

Yasa went to the kitchen to cook something despite how Roy protested since she just woke up. Then when he realized he was beat, he took a seat at the kitchen table and asked her about herself.

"So, how long has your family's restaurant been in business?"

"I think it was ever since Zac and Cole were born. That's what my mom said," smiled Yasa when she dropped the noodles into a pot of boiling water. "They always tease me just because I'm 6 years younger than them."

"Sibling fights, can't escape it," laughed Roy. "It's seems like your mom has a handful. Do you cause trouble?"

"Well there was this one time where I transmuted their bed into different colored toothpicks in the middle of the night," laughed Yasa when she picked up various spices from a nearby pantry. "They deserved it though. Zac said he wanted to try a super cool hairdo on me because it was meant for girls. Cole was the one snuck behind me and tied me to a chair. Zac drew circle on my forehead and they both slapped my face. Next thing I knew, my hair was super short, black and yellow!"

Roy laughed and pointed at her. Yasa laughed too then sprinkled and dashed a few of the spices in the pot. "Mom was furious! You should have seen her. She punished them but I didn't think that was enough."

"What about your dad?" asked Roy.

Yasa fell silent a moment then said, "He didn't really care. Anyway, how did you know my nickname was Sushi? Oh and do you have any tomato sauce?"

"Well it's just like saying how did I know who you were. I heard people around Central talk about you. In a good way though, except this one kid. I believe his name was Takeshi," Roy said while searching for tomato sauce in the cabinets.

"You mean Taka-Baka. He's so stupid. He always tries to copy what I do. But he did help me out once. I remember two times."

Roy found the tomato sauce and handed it over. "And what was the first?"

"When I was five, these kids were jealous because I was the better alchemist."

"_Why are you guys picking on me? Yeah, my alchemy is awesome compared to you guys. Deal with it," said Yasa._

_A group of older boys surrounded Yasa and were closing in. Yasa was just taking a walk to the market, minding her own business. Now she was angry._

"_You should watch what you say, you know," said one boy._

"_Why because you know it's true? You guys are hopeless. Even the simplest thing like a rock into sand. A rock into sand!" Yasa was annoyed at this and attempted to leave, but they kept her in their circle._

"_And now you're going to hurt a girl for this. Pathetic."_

_The eldest looking boy punched her in the face. She lost her balance but regained it to keep her from falling. But another boy punched her. Yasa fell but she then tried to draw a transmutation circle on the ground. One boy noticed what she was doing so he stepped on her hand. Yasa didn't wince in pain but it definitely hurt a lot. The other boys started to kick her until someone spoke. Yasa couldn't see since her face was in the ground. But it sounded familiar._

"_What are you doing stupids? Beating up a girl, and for what? Because you guys stink at alchemy and you're 11 years-old. It's not her fault you guys suck!"_

"_Takeshi, what's it matter to you? She's better than you too."_

"_So I don't beat the crap out of her. She's just a five year-old girl! What losers," yelled Takeshi._

"_Takeshi? Just leave you'll get hurt too," Yasa said. He made it worse though. They punched him down to the floor and whaled him and Yasa. It seemed like forever but they finally stopped._

"_That should teach you to be better than us," laughed the eldest of the boys._

_Takeshi was about to yell at them but Yasa stopped him. Then the group left them sprawled in a deserted alley, bloody and beaten._

"_I can't move my body," said Takeshi. "Those idiots."_

"_I think they wanted to kill me," Yasa said. She was gazing at the evening sky and so was Takeshi. "But, you know, I'm glad you came to help me."_

_Takeshi blushed. "Well what was I suppose to do? Watched as they killed you? Only I should do that, but not like this."_

_Yasa laughed but winced in pain as blood came out her mouth._

"_Crap. I didn't know they'd do this much. We can't move an inch and it's nearing night time."_

"_Prepare to sleep out here. Tomorrow we should be well enough. Then we can pay them back."_

_Yasa and Takeshi fell asleep for only a few minutes before they heard a scream. Next thing they knew was a woman was shaking them to see if they were conscious._

"_Thank goodness. I'll be back with some help." The woman hurried off somewhere and came back with an officer._

_Hours later, they were well enough, with a little limp, to be sent to the police station. They were put in a room with two officers._

"Afterwards, we told them a group of 11 year-olds beat us up. That's all we said. It's sucks for them though."

"How?"

"Well the two days later, Takeshi and I transmuted a pole with hooks on it and hooked them on. Then the day after that we locked them in a cage poked iron sticks at them. They were begging us to stop but we didn't, they deserved every single bit of it." Yasa had a flame in her eyes as she said that.

"Whoa what a story. I wouldn't want to get on your bad side."

"Don't worry, we didn't immobilize them like they did us. They were just locked in the cage, bruised. And we didn't get caught!"

Roy was taken back a bit. "Anyway, I may know your nickname but how did you get it?"

"Oh, that's easy. I got it because one day Zac, Cole, and I accidentally ordered four pounds of sushi but that was way too much for Zac and Cole so I ate the rest. It was so good I wanted more but that took a chunk out of our pockets," she said when she took out the noodles and placed it on two plates. Then she dumped the sauce over the noodles and mixed it in.

"Who paid for it?" asked Roy.

Yasa fell silent again. Then she handed one plate over to him. "It's not all that important," Yasa smiled, but it looked a bit sad. "Either way, I was wondering if I can visit them anytime soon."

Roy acted as if he didn't notice her silence or her smile and said, "It's too soon now so next week should be fine." He grabbed a fork from the table and tasted Yasa's meatless spaghetti.

"Wow this is really good! You could become a great chef if you wanted to."

"I was told that before," she laughed.

They talked some more until Yasa finished her dinner. She was heading for bed and said good night to Roy and headed for her room.


	5. Memories

Chapter 5: Memories

"Hmm. I don't really recall my stuff being brought here. Huh, what's that?" Yasa saw something on the other side of her bed. She walked around to it and saw that it was a suitcase of her things. Yasa opened it up to find a letter for her. She opened it and it read:

_Yasa,_

_We hope everything is alright over there with that Roy Mustang. If he gives you any trouble come to us and we can kill him together. Anyway, practice hard and don't hurt yourself, ok? We all love you!_

_-Your lovely brothers and mom_

_Zac, Cole, Mommy_

Yasa smiled then noticed dad wasn't there. _It's to be expected. I shouldn't worry myself about it_, she thought. She grabbed a set of clothes and a towel then went to take a shower. After her shower, she jumped into her bed.

"I shouldn't still be upset about it. Come on Yasa pull yourself t-together." Yasa couldn't hold it any longer and cried.

"Yasa?" Roy said to himself. He was walking to his room when he heard her speaking. He cracked the door open to see her back turned to him. She was curled into a ball shaking. Roy walked over to her to see her biting her lip trying not to cry. Roy sat on the bed and wrapped his arms around her.

"It's alright Yasa, I'm here for you," he said soothingly. "It's your father, isn't it?"

Yasa stopped biting her lip and cried even harder. She hugged Roy tightly and buried her face in his chest.

"I'll sleep here tonight, if that's ok."

Yasa nodded and stopped crying as much. Yasa was still holding on to Roy while he turned off the lights and lay in the bed. She fell asleep a few minutes later but Roy was still awake.

_Yasa_, he thought, _What happened to make you cry like this? Was it that he didn't care?_

He saw a sheet of paper on the bed with writing on it. He read it and said, "This is more than not caring. Yasa…." Roy brushed her hair with his hand and fell asleep too.

* * *

Morning came and Yasa opened her eyes to see her wrapped in Roy's arms. She blushed a bit and tried to move without waking him up. The minute she moved, Roy stirred a little and his eyes fluttered open.

"I'm sorry for last night," Yasa started, "I shouldn't have let my feelings take over like that."

"Don't worry about it. It's okay. By the way, why were you crying?"

"My father."

"But why?"

"I'd rather not say now. I'll tell you later." Yasa got up and headed for the bathroom to freshen up. "Anyway, how would you like waffles for breakfast?" Yasa smiled sleepily.

* * *

Later that day, Yasa wanted to try out what she created yesterday. Roy wanted to see how she'd do it.

"Don't hurt yourself," Roy teased.

"Alright here it goes."

Yasa drew her universal transmutation circle, which looked like it had wings, then pressed her hands on it. A bright flash of red light shined and Yasa screamed. The light disappeared but she was still screaming. She held out her hands and Roy saw what was happening. Her special transmutation circle seemed to be slicing into the palms of her hands. But then she fell on her stomach and lifted her feet up. The same thing was happening at the bottom of them. When the circle was complete, blood ran down it. Yasa was sprawled in the middle of her circle gritting her teeth. Roy ran to get a towel to wipe off the blood.

"I told you not to hurt yourself!" Roy looked angry.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know it would hurt this much." Yasa looked a bit scared.

Roy noticed and loosed up. "I was just worried. Are you feeling better now?"

It took a while but Yasa stood up and stumbled slightly. "Yeah I'm fine. Now let me see if this'll work."

She clapped her hands together and placed them on the towel. It turned into a pile of red feathers.

"Yaay! I did it!" yelled Yasa. She jumped excitedly then tried something else. She didn't clap her hands, instead she held them in front of her and closed her eyes. Suddenly water formed then fire then compressed air. Then she concentrated on the bottom of her feet. A moment later, she was floating in midair.

"I can fly!" Yasa looked so happy. She was hovering around the room for a while and said, "And if I want to take off the circles I just have to transmute and it's gone! I am so going to be a State Alchemist now!"

For the rest of the week, Yasa was practicing her new abilities with Roy watching just in case something happened. She was transmuting the circles on almost every part of her body to get used to the pain. Surprisingly, the slicing of her universal transmutation circle left no scars. Usually Roy tried to stop her but she kept pushing herself too far. She was so excited to show everyone at home what she could do.

"Why are the days going so slow?" Yasa was leaning back in a chair that afternoon.

"You can wait a couple more hours, you're visiting tomorrow," Roy yawned. The day_was_ going by slowly. Roy wanted Yasa to take a day off and prepare for tomorrow.

Yasa groaned. "I'm so bored! Why don't we play a game or something?"

"A game like what?"

"I don't know. Umm, how about…" she was silent for minutes.

"Exactly," Roy stated plainly.

"Hey, you didn't give me enough time to think! How about we walk around your house?"

Roy took a few minutes to think about it then agreed. They didn't really talk much on the walk, but they did race each other a few times. Yasa won everytime though. It would take them about thirty minutes to walk around his house but it took more than two hours because they wanted to stay outside. They arrived some time later and Yasa made curry rice with mayonnaise. When they finished, Yasa and Roy said their good nights and headed for bed.

"Ugh I feel a bit sick. I guess I shouldn't have had that extra helping of mayonnaise," Yasa moaned as she held her stomach and went to take a shower. "At least I can meet everyone tomorrow. I can't wait!"

Yasa grabbed her things and took a long shower then jumped into bed. She didn't know how exhausted she was until she closed her eyes and fell asleep into a weird dream.

_Yasa found herself in the middle of Central. The sky was dark as night if not darker and every building was on fire. There was no one screaming anywhere but behind Yasa was some sort of army that looked like demons. Yasa seemed to be the leader of them since they were following her and not attacking her. She was walking toward her family's restaurant when she came across a fountain. She looked into it and saw she had her natural red eyes but her hair was just as red and she looked evil. Her eyes were red slits and at the corner of them was a thick black line going down her body._

_Yasa couldn't really control her body but she also wanted to go to her home. She stood in front of the burning building and walked in._

"_I wonder where he could be?" she said smugly._

_She was walking around her house to find someone she didn't know about. She walked behind the counter to the kitchen to find Mile crouched down against a wall, cowering. Out of no where, a curved, black sword appeared in her hand. _

_Yasa laughed. "Dear Father, you look so helpless. That reminds me of a time this sort of thing was happening to me. Let me return the favor." Yasa had a nasty, evil grin on her face as she raised her sword. Mile was terrified and crossed his arms over his head._

"_Yasa please! I said I was sorry. I still am! Yasa!" Yasa realized he was actually begging for his life but she still couldn't control anything._

"_I'm not going to kill you there. I was thinking of chopping off your legs or slicing your stomach first." Yasa lifted her sword and cut a thin, straight line down her father's chest then his legs. She moved toward his neck and she couldn't take it anymore. Yasa pulled back her sword and swung it forward._

Yasa jumped up from bed and was breathing hard. She didn't scream but she was covered in cold sweat.

"Father," she said breathlessly.

She got out of bed to go tell Roy about her dream then she heard a muffled scream from the other room.

_It must be Roy_, she thought, _He must be having a bad dream too._

Yasa walked to the door slowly and stumbled a bit. She was still sleepy. She opened the door and walked over to Roy's room.

"Hey Roy? Did you have a bad dream like me?" she said, rubbing her eyes.

She stood in front of the door and pushed it open. She saw he was sitting on the side of his bed with his gloves on. She saw him snapping his fingers continuously while flames danced above him. It took her a while to process in her brain that it was dangerous so when it clicked in her head, she rushed in.

* * *

Roy was sleeping soundly until an image bombarded into his head.

_Roy was in a house and started snapping his fingers to burn in down. When he turned around he had no idea a person was there until he heard the click of a gun. He whirled around to come face to face with an Ishbalian boy with a rifle in his hands. Roy held his hand out in front of the boy, ready to fire. The boy looked as terrified as if he was looking at the face of death. Roy looked almost like that except more composed. They stood there still for who-knows-how-long, until the boy yelled out in fear and pointed the gun at Roy. Roy panicked and snapped his fingers. Then the scene changed._

_Roy found himself killing two people that had a picture of a little girl in their hands. Then he found himself in the middle of a town with dead bodies around him._

"Aaahh!"

Roy felt so much pain mentally. He rolled over to his nightstand to get his gloves and put it on. He had a crazy sort of painful look on his. He was in deep thought of something.

"Roy!" Yasa ran towards him without even thinking.

Startled, Roy accidentally snapped his fingers to Yasa and instantly she caught fire. She was writhing on the floor screaming horribly as Roy stood there and watched. For a minute, he didn't know what to do until he saw the vase of flowers on his nightstand. He threw the flowers out and dumped the water on Yasa. Then he made a transmutation circle to create more water. Yasa stopped screaming but that made Roy more scared than he already was. She wasn't moving anymore and her eyes were open. Roy picked her up and rushed to his car. He drove to the hospital as quickly as he could.

After a few hours, Roy and the Kanto's were able to come in to see her. She noticed her father wasn't with them.

"Mommy, where's dad?" Yasa asked.

Her mother looked like she was going to cry or cry even more because under her eyes were red.

"Dad couldn't make it," said Zac. Cole continued, "There was some sort of accident. He went to go buy some ingredients for our place…but he didn't come back." Cole fell silent and let Zac tell the rest. "Someone chopped him up. To pieces. He's dead!" Zac cried on Cole's shoulder and their mother patted his back.

Yasa was shocked by two things. One, she has never seen her eldest brother cry before and two, she couldn't believe her father was dead.

A few minutes passed and everyone had solemn looks on their faces. Then Yasa began giggling madly. Everyone was flabbergasted that anyone would ever laugh at anything like this.

"This must be too much for you right now," said Lilia.

"What a coincidence. I was just about to tell Roy about the dream I had and this happens." She continued to laugh even harder now.

"Stop laughing!" Zac yelled.

"I'll tell you why I'm laughing then," Yasa said angrily.

She told them the dream she had and they all looked surprised.

"Yasa that doesn't tell us why you were laughing," said Cole.

"I'm laughing because I'm happy. What other reason? He deserved it all. When I think about it, I should have been the one to do it."

"How you be saying that? Are you mental?!" yelled Zac and Cole.

"Shut up! You have no idea what crap happened between me and him! Just leave me alone!"

"What could have possibly happened to get you like this?!"

"I said leave me alone! That's only between me and Take-" Yasa stopped herself before she could finish but they seemed to figure it out.

"Takeshi?" Cole asked, "What's between you two?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Yasa said quietly. Tears started to form in her eyes. Everyone was so confused. Then Roy spoke up. "Is this the second time you didn't want to tell me Yasa?"

She nodded and looked down at the white bed sheets. She took a few deep breaths and spoke. "D-dad was angry with me one day."

_Yasa was sitting at one of the tables in the restaurant looking out the window._

_Maybe I should have gone with Mum, Zac, and Cole to go shopping, she thought._

"_Oh well, it's pretty relaxing here," she yawned, stretching her arms._

_She saw her dad come from downstairs with a bottle in his hand. He set it down on the counter and walked towards Yasa._

_She felt a bit uneasy but she said, "Hey Dad, how's it going?"_

_He didn't answer her. Maybe he didn't hear me, she thought._

"_Hey, are you feeling alright?"_

_He looked straight at her and slapped her in the face. Then he closed the curtains on the window, grabbed Yasa, and pushed her against the table._

"_Dad why are you doing this?" Yasa was scared but she still had alchemy. While he was speaking she was digging a transmutation circle in the table._

"_I'm still upset about that bill I got for the order of sushi that came here." His breathe reeked of alcohol._

"_But I said I was sorry. I still am! Stop it you're hurting me." He grabbed her arm and started twisting it. But not for long when she transmuted the table into a long stick and jabbed it in his stomach. He backed off of her for a while. Yasa ran to the far end the room and braced herself._

"_Dad, stop it! I'm sorry!"_

_He came closer and Yasa thrusted the spear toward him. He dodged it and grabbed her arm again. Then he threw her into a table._

"_Oops. I forgot you're still seven. I thought you were heavier," he laughed._

_Yasa's head was bleeding a lot and her vision was getting blurry. She felt him come closer and punched her in the face. She fell unconscious but then someone barged into the building._

_Takeshi looked horrified at the scene he was seeing. Blood was coming from Yasa's head and her mouth and she was held up by her shirt by Mile. All Takeshi wanted to do was show Yasa that he could finally transmute wood and grains of sand into nunchaku until he heard the sound of something braking inside the restaurant._

"_Yasa? What happened? Why are you doing this, you irresponsible parent!" Takeshi dashed forward and struck the nunchaku on Mile's head with all his strength. He fell to the ground, knocked out. Takeshi kneeled down to Yasa to see if she was ok enough to speak._

"_Ta…kes-shi?"_

"_Oh Yasa. Why does this happen to you?"_

"_Please don't tell anyone about this."_

"_Did you loose too much blood?"_

"_No seriously, Takeshi. Please don't." Yasa started crying._

"_Alright, alright. I'll keep it a secret. I guess I can understand though." Then Takeshi got up to fix the mess her father made._

"And you told us that you just fell off a chair when you were leaning back in it," said Cole, surprised.

"How could you keep this from us, Yasa?" asked Lilia, crying again.

"I wanted to forget about it. I didn't want anyone to know. I just didn't want any problems to happen." Yasa was trying to avoid everyone's face but Roy held her hand and said, "Yasa, you don't have to deal with it by yourself anymore. You have us now."


	6. Last Days

Chapter 6: Last Days

The next day, Yasa was let out of the hospital. The doctor said that it was bad but not bad enough, though she couldn't have anything hard on her skin. She had the choice of going back home or staying with Roy. She chose to stay with Roy but wanted to spend some time with her family for a while. Roy left the room so she could be alone with them.

"So how long ago was it?" Yasa asked.

"Well," started Lilia, "It was yesterday, but I don't think we should talk about that when we haven't seen you in a while."

"Okay. So what happened when I was knocked out?" Yasa tried to lighten the mood and it worked just a little because Zac was starting to talk.

"Boy you wouldn't believe it!" he said, "When we heard you were in the hospital we freaked out and rushed here. But then we saw Roy. Mum grabbed him by the shirt and shouted 'What did you do to my angel?!' and he totally broke down!" Zac started to laugh.

Cole was laughing too and continued, "He started to say 'It's all my fault' and 'please forgive me' all over mum."

"Yeah, he sure was something. It's hard not to forgive someone who acts like that. That really shows he cares about you. You know, I don't really mind if you stay with him anymore," said Lilia laughing with the twins.

Yasa started to laugh too. "So how's the restaurant? Are you two doing alchemy?"

"We wish," Zac and Cole said.

"Zac and Cole here were doing it to entertain the customers but they messed up everything they transmuted. Takeshi started fixing it back though. Then in no time he became the entertainment."

"Though he isn't as good as you, Yasa," said the twins.

They talked a little more until Yasa felt well enough to move. Before she left, the doctor said not to rough up her skin because it's still sensitive. Then she said her good byes to her family and went back to Roy's house to practice her alchemy. Instead of going to the kitchen like she was originally thinking, she decided to go to his backyard.

"Hey Roy? Let's spar together!" Yasa beamed.

"Yasa, did you not hear what the doctor was telling you?" Roy said rhetorically.

"Duh. I just want to practice something that's not alchemy now."

"But you might get hurt."

"So you think you're better than me."

"I didn't say it," he said, holding his hands up in defense.

"I'll win. You'll see."

Yasa grabbed Roy's wrist and dragged him out to the backyard. Her hands were stinging but she tried to ignore the pain. She let go and walked a few more steps before turning to him.

"Having two older brothers really helps and if you ask me. State Alchemists have lost their touch," she said, standing in no particular fighting stance.

"I didn't learn from the military," he said, standing like Yasa.

They stood there for a while staring at each other waiting for the other to move. Yasa couldn't really take the silence so she dashed forward and tried to kick him in his face. Roy wasn't really expecting her to be so fast but he managed to get out the way. She kept flying kicks toward his way but all he could do was dodge. Then she tried to trip him. He jumped back but she jabbed him in the stomach. Roy fell backward with a loud thud.

_Whoa_, she's serious._ I guess I have to be too, but I can't really hurt her_, he thought.

This time Roy rushed forward and tried to punch her but she moved his hand away with her arm and punched him. He didn't seem to be affected by it because right after, he swept his hands across her legs and she lost balance. Yasa flipped back once then again but she slipped. Luckily, Roy caught her.

"Never help the opponent because you don't know what they'd do next!" She kneed him in the stomach and she flipped back. Roy was holding his stomach but regained his stance and ran forward to grab her. Yasa twisted around him and kicked his side. Roy, however, caught her leg and swung her to the ground. She seemed to be knocked out.

"Yasa? Yasa are you okay?" Roy was starting to panic. "Not again."

"Ouch. That hurt." Yasa clicked back into reality. "Don't worry I just need to stay in the spot 'til the stinging stops. Don't cry now." She smiled at the last three words.

Roy blushed a light red and said, "What do you mean?"

Yasa spread her arms out and enjoyed the softness of the grass. Roy lay right by her.

"You know Roy, your fire electrifies me," she said without her even knowing it.

Roy felt awkward. Not because he caught her on fire, but of what she said. "That sounds kind of weird coming from a girl, you know."

"I said that out loud?"

"Yep."

Yasa's face turned red and said, "How embarrassing. What I meant was, your flames feels more like lightning than fire. But someone would have to be a skilled alchemist to tell. Or they would have to be struck by lightning and caught on fire to know the difference." She started to laugh. Then she sat up and leaned back on her hands. "It's pretty nice to live here. I wish could stay."

Roy looked up at Yasa and saw her staring at the sky. "Well didn't your mom say she wouldn't mind?"

"Eavesdropper. You know what she means."

"Either way, focus on the task at hand. By the way, why do you want to become a State Alchemist?"

Yasa had no expression on her face when she kept looking up. "Well, I just want to stop people like my father and the person that killed him from the people I love." She got up and headed for the kitchen. "I'm starving. I know it's not breakfast time, but would you like to try maple syrup on eggs?"

After lunch, Yasa grabbed a towel and went back outside.

"I'll practice outside this time!"

"Yasa, you seriously have to stop this and rest. Your skin is still sensitive."

"It stings so what? I can deal with it."

"Maybe you can but why don't you wait until tomorrow to start training?" Roy was starting to get irritated.

"I'd rather not and I know you can't stop me," Yasa smirked.

"That's what you think." Roy walked in front Yasa and held up her arms. "Now you can't draw any transmutation circles."

"I don't have to." Yasa was smiling and gritted her teeth as a flash of red shone on her hands and feet. Roy let her down and grabbed the towel. He looked annoyed.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

She lifted up her shirt to reveal a transmutation circle. Roy was shocked.

"I keep that there just in…" Suddenly, she collapsed. "Why does this sort of thing happen to me? I'm like really! It's getting kinda old…," she fainted.

Roy noticed blood seeping from her hands. "I told you to rest. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

Roy wiped off the blood and carried her to her room. This was all too familiar. When her set her down on her bed, he walked to the window to open it. Though, it was getting dark outside so he didn't bother. He sat next to her on her bed. Nothing really happened until she woke up.

"Ugh, I feel a bit woozy," she said while holding her head.

"Hmm I wonder why?" Roy said sarcastically.

"How was I supposed to know that was gonna happen?"

"I told you your skin was still sensitive. You felt it."

"Whatever. I'm sorry, okay? It's late anyway so I guess I'll make breaded chicken, shower and go to bed." Yasa got up and winced a bit before getting downstairs to the kitchen."

Dinner was eaten in silence with a few glares and stares. Yasa was the first to go to bed. She showered then fell asleep a few minutes later. Roy got up almost right after she did and headed for his bed. He decided to shower in the morning.

In the middle of the night, Yasa woke up with cold sweat. She got out of bed and headed towards Roy's room. She peaked in to see if he was snapping his fingers again. She sighed with relief to find his gloves on the nightstand. Yasa creeped in and then lie right next to him. Roy felt something move beside him so he opened his eyes and found Yasa sleeping beside him.

"Ah!" Roy shrieked.

Yasa slowly opened her eyes and said, "What's up?"

"Why are you in my bed?" Roy said a little surprised.

"I had a bad dream."

"What was it about?" He was starting to calm down.

"It was the worst thing ever!" she cried, "I was surrounded by food and when I ran to it, it got even farther. Also, I was underwater and people were laughing at me while eating the food!" Yasa hugged Roy out of fear and kept uttering nonsense.

"It's alright Yasa. The food people won't bother you anymore."

After the next few days, Yasa slept in Roy's room as she did with Zac and Cole when she felt lonely. Also, she alternated between going to Roy's library and practicing alchemy, with sparing in between. She was really happy with him and likewise with Roy. Then it came time for her special day.

"Today is going to be a beautiful day I bet," she said to herself.

Roy knocked on her door and said, "Yasa, are you awake?"

"Yes. What is it?" she opened the door and her face brightened up.

Roy held out a small silver ball in his hands. "Here you go Yasa. Happy Birthday!"

Yasa took the ball and looked at it to see what it does. "Wait, how did you know it was my birthday? I haven't told you."

"You think I'd let you stay here for a month and not know your birthday? We have files about you. Just like we have some of someone I want you to meet."

"Someone you want me to meet? Who is it?" Yasa was happy even though she thought he shouldn't be snooping around in other people's business.

"You'll find out sooner or later, be patient," smirked Roy.

Almost right after, Yasa and Roy got into his car and drove to the person she was to meet. It wasn't very far away. In fact it was right here in Central. They drove up to a huge house way bigger than Roy's could ever be.

"Wow," Yasa said quietly. She looked towards the front gate to see four people and a dog standing in the courtyard.

Roy stopped the car, got out, and walked to the people. Yasa followed suit and saw a cute little girl, a man that looked about Roy's age, a kid like her, and a suit of armor. Yasa hardly ever got nervous but this time her body was betraying her. She became stiff and uneasy.

"Relax Yasa. There's nothing to worry about." Roy stopped in front of the man and greeted him.

"Maes, I haven't seen you in a while. How's it been?"

"Oh hey Roy," he started, "I was just inviting everyone here for Ed's birthday party."

"Birthday?" Yasa blinked.

"Oh," Roy said, "Everyone this is Yasa Kanto. She's also going to participate in the State Alchemist exam. Yasa, this is who I'd like you to meet." He held his hand toward Edward and smiled.

Yasa took that as her cue to introduce herself. "Hi, it's nice to meet you. You can call me Sushi if you want. I had no idea someone my age would be in exam too. Oh and happy birthday. It's also my birthday." Yasa was nervous but tried not to show it by smiling.

Ed looked at her and smiled. "I'm Edward but you can call me Ed. Nice to meet you too, Yasa. Happy birthday. So what's with the name Sushi?"

"I'll tell you later. So why's there a suit of armor here? Is someone in it?" she asked looking all around it.

"Um, hi. I'm Alphonse, nice to meet you."

Yasa jumped when he talked. _Whoa, it's alive!_ she thought. "Oh sorry! I didn't know." Then she turned to the little girl. "So, what's your name?"

"I'm Nina. You look pretty," she said.

"You wanna see something even prettier?" A moment later, Yasa's hair and eyes started to shine. When the light disappeared, her hair was in light pink pigtails and her eyes were green.

"Wow," Nina laughed.

Everyone but Roy looked surprised.

"How did you do that without a transmutation circle?" asked Al.

"Oh I do have a transmutation circle." With that she lifted up her shirt to reveal her special circle on her stomach. Everyone was even more surprised.

"Whoa I guess this day is filled with surprises. Well, we should start heading to my house," said Maes.


	7. State Alchemist Exam

Chapter 7: State Alchemist Exam

Maes, Roy, Yasa, Ed, Al, and Nina walked to the Hughes home and when they arrived, they were greeted by a table filled with food and a kind woman.

"Hi everyone I'm Gracia. I didn't expect for us to have so many guests but make yourself at home," she said with a warm smile.

"Whoa look at that stomach! It's a melon!" said Ed. Al was just as surprised.

"Yeah I know isn't it beautiful?" said Maes.

"She's due any day now. Do you want to feel her?" Gracia asked.

Ed and Al backed away but Nina and Yasa stepped forward. "It feels funny," said Nina.

Nina and Yasa laughed.

Then came the birthday party. Everyone was having such a good time. They were saying joking about Yasa and Ed and the food was delicious. Gracia left to go make some tea, though when she came back, she collapsed.

"Ugh, it's coming," moaned Gracia.

"The tea?" asked Maes.

"No the baby!"

"Let's go to the doctor."

"But it's a blizzard outside!" Al pointed to the window and snow was blowing everywhere.

"I'll get the doctor then!" Maes ran out before anyone could stop him.

Everyone began helping Gracia over to a couch and got her a tub of hot water and some towels.

"What a predicament," sighed Roy.

"You got that right," agreed Yasa.

Gracia started to moan loudly and they all started to get even more worried.

"Everyone calm down the doctor should be coming anytime soon now," Roy said trying to sound relaxed himself.

"Aaaahhh! I can't take it anymore, I'm gonna die!" Then she passed out.

Everyone screamed.

"She didn't die she just fell asleep!" said Ed freaking out.

Gracia started moving again and everyone sighed with relief.

"She's alive!" said Al.

Ed punched a fist in his hand and said, "What should I do? I can't do anything now."

"Big brother the water's cold," said Nina.

Ed went down to pick up the tub but then the water in it instantly began boiling.

"What did you just do?" asked Al.

"I don't know."

"You didn't have a transmutation circle!" Yasa said.

They all stood there amazed until Gracia said, "I can't take it anymore! It's coming!"

* * *

Some time later, a doctor came and helped out Gracia.

"Thank you all. You helped me get through such a rough time," said Gracia holding her baby girl in her arms gingerly.

"Oh but we didn't anything," said Ed.

"Yeah, you did all the work," added Yasa.

"No, you stayed by my side."

After a while no one said anything, but everyone was so happy. Then Roy broke the silence.

"Well Yasa, it's late, I guess it's time for us to leave."

Yasa stood there smiling for a while then began to leave.

"Hey Yasa," called Ed, "I look forward to seeing you at the exam in the next few days. After all, I haven't really seen what you can do."

"Right, well you'll see soon enough. Bye everyone."

"Bye big sister!" said Nina.

"See you at the exam," said Al.

From then on, Yasa has been working harder than ever to prepare for the State Alchemist Exam. Then the day of the exam came.

Roy drove to Central Headquarters for the exam and dropped Yasa off at the front of the building.

"I have to go prepare for the written part of the exam. You should meet Edward and Alphonse around here somewhere. Good luck," Roy said.

"Thanks Roy," said Yasa, "You know, I may not know what'll happen after all of this but just to let you know, you've been um..sort of like a father to me. Thank you." Yasa blushed a bit and turned around to search for Ed and Al but Roy put his hand on her shoulder.

"Yasa, you've been sort of like a daughter to me, just to let you know." Roy blushed a bit too and then Yasa gave him a tight hug.

"Thanks Roy! I'll go look for Ed and Al now. See ya!" She ran off waving back at him, beaming.

She ran all over the place searching for them before the doors opened for them to take the test. She sat down near a fountain to gather her thoughts and felt a hand on her shoulder. She flipped forward and tried to kick the person.

_Oops, it's just a stranger! I shouldn't beat people up just because_, she thought.

She looked behind her and saw a freaked out looking Edward and a nervous looking Alphonse. Nina was there with Alexander and didn't seem to notice or care what happened.

"Oops! Sorry, I guess that's just a reflex!" Yasa laughed.

"I wonder what would happen if that was intentional," said Ed.

"Hey look the doors are opening," said Al, pointing at the doors to the building.

"Good luck," said Nina. Her dog, Alexander, barked next to her.

Ed, Al, and Yasa walked in and sat down in the center somewhere. They saw the Fuhrer seated at a desk in the center of the room. Roy was on the right side of the desk looking stoic.

The Fuhrer banged a gavel down and said, "Now the first exam will begin!"

After who-knows-how-long, the doors opened to let out the people from the exam. Ed, Al, and Yasa looked weary as they walked down the steps to Nina and Alexander.

"I couldn't finish the test. I could barely feel my hands," said Ed.

"I finished but now comes the interview," said Al.

"One more question! One more question! I was so close!" Yasa whined.

Roy came towards the group and called Ed and Al to talk privately.

Yasa got over that one question situation by playing with Alexander and joking around with Nina. It took them a while to get back but they came. Though, Roy wasn't with them.

"So what was that all about?" asked Yasa.

They were silent for a moment and then Al spoke. "I won't be in the exam anymore."

"What?!" Yasa instantly turned angry. Her hair and eyes shined and they were both red. "I'll knock some sense in that thick skull of his! The loser!"

"No it's alright. I'd have to tell them about our past and that would just cause problems."

People started walking towards the doors that just opened for the interviewing part of the exam.

"That sure was fast," muttered Yasa angrily.

"Don't worry about it Yasa. It's fine."

She sighed. "Well I guess but it still sucks. I should hurry, I'm the first to be interviewed."

Yasa rushed forward and opened a door leading to the interviewing room. It was dark except for the spotlighted chair with only three legs in the middle and a complicated looking transmutation circle under it.

_How could it stand like that?_

"Come have a seat," said the Fuhrer, "An Alchemist must not doubt themselves."

She stepped forward and took a seat comfortably on the chair and noticed Roy off to the side but chose not to acknowledge his presence.

"So first. Why do you want to become a State Alchemist?"

Yasa was nervous but answered the question the best way she could. "I want to become a State Alchemist so I can protect people from others that have nasty and disturbing thoughts in their heads. I want to keep them safe and let them feel safe."

She noticed Roy smiled a bit when she finished answering. The rest of the questions were pretty easy to answer. So when she got out she felt like she could pass the rest of the exam.

Ed went in after her and then she waited until everyone had been interviewed. It didn't really take long since most of the people didn't pass the written part so only a few were left.

Before they left for the next part of the exam, Nina had something to give them. Al urged her to go ahead until she handed them a picture she made. She drew Ed, Al, Alexander, Yasa, and herself on it with a transmutation circle.

"It's a charm that makes wishes come true," she said.

"Thanks, Nina," said Ed.

"Yeah, it's really nice," Yasa said.

The practical skills exam was starting to begin so everyone walked towards a large field with a make-shift area.

"We will lend you a few materials to do as you wish," said the Fuhrer. Behind him was a little forest, a mountain, and a glacier with a river at its side.

"Whoa…." said Yasa.

"As you wish? What exactly are we supposed to do?" asked Ed.

There was a sound coming from the mini-field and then they saw a guy transmuting something. He created a tall tower but he was unable to get back up. Then this other guy said it was his turn and threw a tree and a bucket of water on a transmutation circle. He placed his hands on it and he created a balloon of paper and hydrogen. It was impressive but then it burst, heading straight for the tower. The man who created it was still unable to move and he got terrified. The tower started to break down and the debris was falling towards the man.

Before anyone could act, Ed rushed forward, clapped his hands, and pressed it on the tower. A bright light shined and then cherry blossoms pedals started to fall. Everyone looked up to see a giant reef with wings at its sides.

"Aah! It's beautiful!" smiled Nina.

"No transmutation circle, eh?" said Roy, clearly impressed.

Yasa looked around and saw everyone's face. They were all delighted but Yasa knew only one way of standing out.

"Time to take the evil approach!" Yasa ran toward the reef and started to shine a blinding red light. She had her special transmutation circles on her hands and feet then jumped. She was flying through the air. Then she held her hands to the reef and water started to shot out of her palms. The reef froze instantly. Next she seemed to somehow create lightning and directed it to the reef. It shattered into many tiny pieces but before they hit the ground, she used the wind to carry the pieces high it the air. Finally she held out her hands again and produced fire to melt the ice. It rained on everyone. Yasa flew gently back down. She put her hands on her hips and smiled.

"How do you like that!"

Everyone was amazed that such a little girl could do so much. The Fuhrer spoke when it finished raining.

"I think we have our new State Alchemists! They're getting younger by the year," he said with a bit of a laugh.

Yasa didn't look tired, but on the inside she was practically begging for help. She jumped up and down in excitement and hugged Ed.

"We did it! We're State Alchemists!"


	8. One After The Other

Chapter 8: One After The Other

The following day, Ed and Yasa were sent to Roy's office to receive something to say they were State Alchemists. He threw a pocket watch at each of them.

"So that's it? After hard weeks of training?" asked Yasa.

"Yeah, what she said," added Ed.

"What else do you want? You are now officially State Alchemists, dogs of the military."

"When you put it like that….," Yasa mumbled.

They stepped out of his office and Ed turned to Yasa.

"Well I'll be heading back to Tucker's place so I'll see you around Yasa."

"Yeah, I'll be heading back too. Say bye to Al and Nina for me, okay?"

"Will do," he said. They walked off in separate directions and then Yasa realized something.

"Wait. I don't have to go back to Roy's house anymore. I can go back home." Yasa felt kind of sad that she wouldn't be able to go to Roy's house anymore.

_Unless_, she thought, _if mum would let me…But maybe he wouldn't really want me back. He does have work to do._

She sighed and started to walk though town looking at her pocket watch. She glanced up to see a man clutching his right arm. He seemed to be having a hard time. Without thinking, she walked up to him and said, "Hey, are you alright?"

The man just looked at her then down to her hand and said, "You'd best give up the title of State Alchemist or it will meet your demise."

Yasa was creeped out. "Um that's pretty unusual to say to a stranger, you know. But do you still need any help?"

"Heed my words." Not a second later, he walked off.

Yasa stood there and watched him leave.

_What a weirdo._

She walked on and found herself in front of her home.

"Oh I missed this place!" She rushed in and saw that the place was packed with people, like usual.

"Yasa!" Everyone turned their heads when they heard her name. Suddenly, everyone was cheering and welcoming her back. Apparently they forgot about Takeshi who was in the middle of transmuting a pencil into a bell.

_Once again they pay attention to her and not me_, he thought, _but I guess she deserves it. She's still better than me no matter how much I practice…_

Zac and Cole picked her up and carried her around the restaurant. Everyone was so happy and became even happier when Lilia said all drinks are on the house. They all asked questions about her alchemy exam and how she's been doing but then Takeshi walked up to her.

He stood in front of her with tough guy look then he looked away as he said, "Congratulations, Yasa. You deserved it-" Everyone 'Aw'ed at it and he continued. "But one thing I really want to know is, how did you pass it?"

Everyone nodded and waited for her to speak.

"Oh! Well that's easy! Let me show you." She walked outside and stopped in the middle of the walkway. She decided she was going to perform in style so she changed her hair to an orange color and her eyes yellow. Then she jumped in the air and began to fly. Other people stopped to see what was going on and was awed by Yasa. She juggled fire around her and shot water at it. The air was filled with water vapors. Then she landed gently on the ground.

The crowd was roaring with excitement and even Takeshi was smiling at Yasa. She felt so happy to be here with everyone she loved and spent her time with.

Yasa suddenly ran towards Takeshi and hugged him tightly.

"Oh Takeshi, thank you! Thank you so much for helping me though the hardest times of my life," she said loudly. But in a more quieted tone she said, "I really think I would have died without you. Thanks."

Takeshi blushed a bit and hugged her back. "I may be your rival, but I'll still protect you."

For the rest of the day, Yasa and the customers were laughing and playing around with Yasa until she felt this sickening feeling shoot right through her.

_What was that?_, she thought, _I feel awful. I hope nothing bad happened._

Night came later and it was time for closing.

"Bye Sushi, congratulations again!" said the customers one last time before leaving. Takeshi and his younger sister, Julia, stayed behind.

"Hey Yasa, did you feel something strange earlier?" asked Takeshi.

"I thought I was the only one. Want to go check it out?"

"Wow you're first day back and you want to go out and look for trouble."

Julia decided to stay quiet and listen in on what they were talking about.

Yasa turned to her mother and said, "Hey, Takeshi and I are going to check something out. I'll see you later, okay?"

Zac and Cole gave her a strange look. "What are you going to check out, huh?"

"I'll tell you once I find out." Yasa grabbed Takeshi's hand and ran outside.

"Julia, go home, I'll be there in a while," said Takeshi.

"Hey that's not fair!" she pouted. But he was already gone. She followed them until she saw this weird looking guy staring at his arm. Curiosity took over her and she followed him.

* * *

"It feels a bit eerie over here." They ran in the direction she pointed in and saw a group of people in military uniforms and a car from afar. Yasa squinted her eyes and saw a large figure and a red coat.

"Ed! Al!" She ran as fast as she could toward them and the soldiers turned around to stop them.

"Hey what's all this for I'm a State Alchemist! Let go of me." It took them a while to set her down but they did. They kept holding on to Takeshi though.

"Put him down too!" When they were satisfied, Yasa walked to Ed and Al to ask what was wrong.

"We felt a sickening feeling earlier tonight and I wanted to check it out. What's happening?"

"Look." Takeshi said. They saw a chimera and Shou Tucker getting into the back of a car with cuffs on his wrists. Then this big guy said, "We will handle this from now on. Don't mention this to anyone."

Ed turned angry instantly. "You knew about this all this time! And now you're trying to cover-" The big guy punched him in the stomach with a metal arm.

"Hey, what's the big idea!" Yasa rushed forward but the soldiers stopped her. She recognized him as Brigadier General Gran. When he got in the car, they threw her back and drove off. Ed struggled to get up and said, "I'm not letting them go!"

He clapped his hands and light flashed underground towards the car. The road waved up and caused the car to flip over, breaking the back door open to release the creature.

"Nina!" The chimera looked at him for a moment then ran off. Ed followed immediately after.

"Nina?!" Yasa was in disbelief. She unconsciously ran after Ed and the chimera shouting, "Ed, what do you mean by Nina? That thing's not Nina, right?"

Minutes passed before anything happen until they heard something. "Aaaahhh!"

They ran to the scream until Ed stopped to look around. He squinted into an alleyway and saw a little girl then he looked next to her. He was horrified. "Nina…."

Yasa ran up to see what he was looking at and then she froze. "Nina?"

There was a large stain of blood on the wall and floor of the alley. Ed, Al, and Yasa, walked to it.

Takeshi ran over to the girl and said, "Julia I told you to go home!" He picked her up because she didn't seem she was able to herself. He hugged her and started walking away from the scene.

"I'm sorry, Nina," Ed said, "I'm sorry." Ed started to cry and at that moment, rain began to pour down.

He ran to the wall and clapped his hands desperately trying to bring back Nina from the bloody mess. Yasa was hoping this wasn't real.

Moments later, cars with soldiers came to clean up. Then Roy came out of a car with a stoic looking blonde-haired woman behind him. He walked to the entrance of the alley and said, "It is impossible to bring her back to life, Ed. You, of all people, should know that. It's no use to do that now. She was a defective chimera. Just accept what's happened now and move on."

"Accept this?!"

Roy stepped forward and grabbed Ed's wrist. "You have a goal to complete, right? You don't have time to stand here and do nothing." After he said that a car pulled by and Maes got out of it.

"The Investigative Department is here. Get out of the way."

Ed ran out of the alley leaving Yasa, Takeshi, and Al behind.

* * *

The next day was Sunday so the restaurant was closed. Yasa lie in her bed staring blankly at the ceiling.

_I can't keep doing this_, she thought, _I need to get up and do something._

She got up and took a shower. When she was done, she went downstairs and Zac and Cole hugged her. "We're sorry, Yasa. For what happened we mean."

Lilia came to hug her too. "I'm sorry too. Roy told us what happen. And he also told us if we said anything to anyone, the military would shut down our restaurant."

Yasa was a little angry but in ways she expected it. "Don't worry about it, guys," she said, "It's alright. I'll think I'll go out now."

Lilia made breakfast but Yasa didn't feel like eating anything. Instead, she walked outside to stroll around Central. People were glancing at her smiling, unaware of what happened. She tried to pretend nothing happened and smiled back at them. It pained her to smile through all of this. As she continued walking, she found Takeshi lounging around with his hands behind his head looking at the sky. She didn't want him to notice her so she turned the other way. As she was turning around, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

_Crap, I guess I couldn't avoid it._

She turned to see Takeshi looking straight in her eyes. She knew this was hard for him to do since he gets nervous everytime someone looks him in the eye, though she makes eye contact with everyone so it's no problem. But this time was different.

"Yasa," he started, "I'm sorry for your friend. If there's anything, well you know."

Yasa liked it when he was like this but for some reason it didn't feel right. She wanted people to feel sorry for her but she knew it wasn't right.

"Takeshi, this isn't like you. You're my rival act like one. Thanks though. I really appreciate it. I feel so much happier now. So, how's Julia?"

"She's much better than before. But she was mumbling about 'Scar', 'Tattoo', and 'Arm'. I have no idea what she means."

Yasa's eyes widen when she realized who Julia was referring to.

"Well, I hope she'll get over it soon. See you later."

She ran off and turned a corner, hoping he wouldn't follow her. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder again.

"Look Takeshi, I just want to…." When she turned around she saw this woman with brown hair and a kind smile.

"Oh, I didn't know you were there. Um, do you need something?"

The woman just smiled and said, "Oh nothing really. I just wanted to see the face behind that bright orange head of yours."

"Oh well, here I am. Anyway, I'll be getting on my way now."

Yasa turned around and began walking away until the woman started laughing. The next thing she knew was that she felt something getting hit on her head. Her body twisted around and she saw the woman holding a baseball bat in her hands laughing, then everything faded.


	9. Double Trouble

Chapter 9: Double Trouble

She awoke chained to a chair, cold, and in a place filled with butchered pigs hanging from the ceiling. She looked around to see Ed knocked out in a chair next to her.

"Ed! Ed!" she yelled. Then the sound of a saw caught her attention and woke Ed up. The woman from before had Ed's automailed arm next to the saw.

"Good morning, little kids," she said. Then her voice became deep. "I heard that you could transmute objects without a circle. And you already have a circle on your body so it's as easy as blinking."

Yasa noticed that her shirt was lifted up to her stomach and saw that her transmutation circle was gone.

"But how?" she asked in disbelief.

"Alchemy. I probably won't remember how to do that again though. It's too much to remember for me but that wouldn't matter now, now would it? Let me introduce myself. I'm Barry. Barry the Chopper." He walked to one row of pigs and pushed it. It slid until a girl with blonde hair trailed behind it. Her mouth was taped and her wrists were chained.

"Winry!" shouted Ed.

"Now watch as I slice her up beautifully."

"No! Why would you do that?!" yelled Ed.

"Why? Well maybe because it's fun."

Yasa was horrified. "How could it be fun?!"

"Well I killed my wife first. We had a stupid fight. But when I saw how wonderfully she cut, I wanted to do it again and again." He picked up two butcher knives and headed towards Ed and Yasa.

"Stay away!"

He continued to speak, "Then one day I saw this man walking home with groceries in his hands. He seemed familiar, like I've seen him somewhere. Oh yeah! It was in a famous restaurant. I saw him cleaning up the water from a broken vase while I think...You were fixing it."

He gestured to Yasa as her eyes widen hoping what she was thinking was wrong.

"Well I snuck up on him and trapped him in here. I sliced him up right where you're sitting. He was saying something like 'I'm sorry!' and 'Please!' and 'Yasa!'. But that's when I found out that men don't slice as nicely as women do. But you, little boy, are so young and your skin is still soft and plump. Almost like a woman."

"You….you…Monster!!" yelled Yasa.

Barry stood in front of Ed and Yasa and suddenly drove his knifes into their shoulders. They cried in pain and then a light flashed near Ed and he fell out of his chair. He transmuted the chains into a pipe and scrambled to get away. The pipe was by his feet so he kicked it up to him and swung it at Barry. It cut his hand but he seemed to like the blood pouring down from it. Yasa took the chance to slip through the chains. Ed ran towards his metal arm and pushed it in. He screamed but then Barry found him. Ed clapped his hands awkwardly and his automail turned into a shield like knife thing. Barry kept slashing at him but missed. Then Winry slipped on the stool she was standing on and bumped into a pig causing the row to move. It bumped into Barry and he fell on Ed. Yasa finally got through and rushed over to Winry to unbind her. Quickly, Ed kicked the knife out of his hand and lunged forward to stab him with his automail. But a hand held him back.

"Don't!"

Ed swung back his hand and tried to hit who held him. Though it didn't hurt the person.

"I would die from that."

"Al…"

A soldier came in and pointed a gun at Barry. He then knew he was defeated.

"Brother, does it hurt?"

"I thought. I thought he was going to kill me. I thought I was going to die." Ed started to cry. "I was scared. I was really, really scared."

Once everyone was safe outside, Al told them how they got there. It turned out that Hughes recognized a truck that went though security before so they tracked it down easily. It was Ed's first accomplishment.

"The Philosopher's Stone might really exist but to find it, you need to be a State Alchemist. I have no body. I can't feel the fear you felt when you were about to die. I want to find the Philosopher's Stone to return to my normal human body."

"After I found out I was nearly killed, all I could do was scream. I couldn't think of anything. I thought I could save someone. Then I realized, we're not devils or even gods. We're just humans! We couldn't even save Nina. We're just petty humans," Ed cried.

* * *

Ed and Yasa were called to Roy's office again to receive their official papers to say they are State Alchemists.

"One condition?"

"That's right," said Ed, "I will do whatever the military wants. I just want every bit of information on the Philosopher's Stone."

"I could threaten you by revealing your past on your brother. Of course there would be lab experiments and questionings…." There was a pause. "But I wouldn't do that. Here."

Roy handed them both an envelope. "The Fuhrer has given you two a second name. He seemed to have some sort of humor in it."

They opened it and were taken aback.

"Fullmetal Alchemist," said Ed.

"Winged Alchemist," said Yasa.

"Along with your silver watch you are given a second name."

"I like the heavy name. I will carry it."

"I like the light name. I will carry it."

"This is definitely going to be interesting." Roy smirked.

Ed walked out of the office before Yasa. She wanted to talk with Roy.

"So what am I to do now?"

"What ever you want to do."

"Roy?"

"Yes," he said while looking through some papers.

"Um, can I live with you?" Yasa was looking intently at him.

Roy was surprised that she would ask him that. He cleared his throat and said, "Yasa, would it be alright with your mother? Besides, since you're now a State Alchemist, there will be missions where you would have to travel. Perhaps far away. Ed would have to deal with the same thing too."

Yasa looked away and said, "Oh, well I guess you're right. After all, I do want to stop people like my father and Barry. See you later Roy. Thanks for everything." Yasa saluted and walked out of his office without another word. When she reached outside, she saw that Ed was still there. He was leaning on the wall of the building.

"Yo. I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Sure, what do you want to know?" Yasa asked.

"Well what was that all about when that maniac said something about that guy who cleaned up the water from the broken vase?"

Yasa eyes widen as she tried not to cry. She began to tremble and Ed noticed.

"Nevermind, you don't have to say anything if it's so hard." Ed started to walk away but Yasa stopped him.

"No, I guess I'm going to have to get used to these sort of things. I'm probably going to have to say this eventually. You see, while I was at our family's restaurant, I was bringing a plate of food to a customer."

"_Hey Yasa, here's the grilled chicken with honey mustard and pickles with grape juice on the side," said Lilia._

_Yasa ran to the counter and picked up the tray as she usually does everyday. She was walking to the customer nearest to the window until she tripped and lost her balance. She tried to gain it back but that made it worse. She stumbled forward and knocked into a vacant table with a vase and yellow flower in it. Everything came crashing down and she was in a mess. Mile came to clean it up when someone came in. Yasa looked up at the customer and smiled._

"_Welcome to the Kanto's fine dining restaurant where you apparently get the last laugh!" Everyone laughed except for Mile._

_When it was time to close the store everyone was exhausted so they headed upstairs and got ready for bed. Yasa was just about to go up too until her father grabbed her arm._

"_Wait a minute, I want to talk to you."_

"_Okay, what is it?" she yawned. She worked twice as hard to make up for the mess._

"_You need to be more careful from now on Yasa. You're going to give this restaurant a bad name."_

"_Sorry dad, I can't help it sometimes. I'm still just a kid," she smiled. But then a sudden blow to her face wiped it off. Her head turned completely to the right._

_Mile looked at Yasa in disgust. "Don't ever be so light about this! We could be out of business because of you."_

"_Dad, I'm sorry. I didn't know you'd be this way about it," she said, not trying to get him mad._

"_How dare you talk to me like that!" He then punched her causing her to fall over._

"_Dad please stop," cried Yasa._

_He walked to her and she started backing away. She was trapped in a corner and then he smiled. "That should teach you to be more careful. Don't ever let this happen again."_

"And then he left upstairs. The next day, it was as if nothing ever happened."

Ed just stood there, unable to comprehend why a father would do that for dropping a tray of food.

"You know," she said, "I feel so much better for actually telling someone that."

"You mean you never told anyone before?"

"No. I was to afraid too. If he ever found out, then well, you know."

Ed couldn't believe what he was hearing.

_Yasa_, he thought, _looking at you now I wouldn't be able to even think about that happening to you._

"Oh I have an idea!" she said brightly, "How about you come over my house and I can show my moves?"

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see."

Yasa pulled Ed's hand and dragged him over towards her house. They saw Al along the way and Yasa grabbed his hand to and continued toward her house. They also saw Takeshi walking around.

"Perfect!"

Yasa hooked him along with her arm by his neck and then they stood in front of her house. She walked in and gestured for them to follow. When they were in, they saw Cole slouching in a chair at a table, sulking.

"What's wrong, Cole?" asked Yasa.

He just looked up at her and sighed. "Zac. He's such a loser."

"And?"

"We had a big fight?"

"What's new?"

"Yasa, I'm serious," he whined.

"So what did you guys fight about?" asked Takeshi.

"Ok, we went out to hang with our friends but then we decided to race. We ran and then Zac tripped me! And would you believe he said 'Well you better watch where you're going next time'?"

"Yes," Yasa said quietly.

"So what happened afterwards?" asked Al.

"Well we argued while walking to our friends. They left us alone to settle our problems. Then we argued back and here we are."

"At least you know what to do now, right?" asked Yasa.

"No, what?"

"Fight. With us."

Cole's eyes widen and jumped up from his chair.

* * *

Yasa, Takeshi, Ed, Al, Zac, and Cole stood in a somewhat vast, grassy plain and let the breeze pass through them.

"Is everyone ready?" Yasa asked.

"I'm good," said Zac and Cole, glaring at each other.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," said Ed.

"Me too," agreed Al.

"This'll be entertaining," said Takeshi.

They waited for the other person to move but there was just stillness. After a while, Zac and Cole couldn't take it anymore and lashed out on each other at the same time. Ed was watching them so intently that he barely had enough time to dodge the kick that Yasa flung at him.

"Pay attention," she said.

Takeshi decided to join the fun so he jumped over Al and kicked him causing him to fall forward, but Al regained his balance and grabbed Takeshi's leg and threw him. Meanwhile, Zac and Cole became even more angry at each because all of there attacks were ironically the same. Zac flung a fist at Cole and Cole did the same. Cole ducked and tried to sweep Zac off the ground but Zac did too and they both fell over. Things were starting to drag on until Zac jumped back then flipped forward twice when Cole only did once. Zac then wailed on Cole until he stumbled backward. He stood over him.

"I won," said Zac, "But this was pretty stupid." He fell right beside Cole and watched everyone else fight.

Takeshi was getting exhausted by Al's counterattacks. Everytime Takeshi tried to twist around Al, he got jabbed square in the chest. If he tried to punch him straight forward then he would get thrown. The battle ended quickly as Takeshi ran out of breath and collapsed in front of Al.

"You're...really good," breathed Takeshi.

"It's what I do best. I wonder if my brother will win?" said Al.

"Probably not. Don't ever remember Yasa giving up to anything unless if it was stupid but I'm pretty sure this isn't one of those times."

Yasa was the first to use alchemy.

"Time to show you what I really mean!"

She shone a red light on her palms and feet and began to hover. Ed caught on and transmuted his automail into a blade then he clapped his hands and slapped it on the ground. It started to shake and chunks of earth were flying up. Yasa tried to avoid it but she got caught in the mess. She was lifted in the air by the ground once but jumped off of it and began to fly. She aimed her arms downward and let out a yell. Fire shot out of her hands like a meteor shower. Ed tried to dodge, but flames were everywhere. He didn't get burned too much but his red coat was charred so he threw it off. Then things started to get violent.

"I'm pulling out all the stops now, Yasa!"

She laughed it off and started to pour down a torrent of water on him. He shielded himself with his transmuted blade then jumped to the side and ran. She then lowered herself and said, "With all of this water, guess what I can do."

Yasa raised her arms toward the clouds and held her legs straight down and suddenly a spark cover the ground. Ed got shocked and tumbled on the static charged water. He tried hard to ignore the jolts even for a minute so he could find a way to get back at her. Suddenly, something clicked in his head.

"If you can do it, so can I!"

Yasa was confused in what he meant until he took off his gloves and boots and clapped his hands. Yasa's eyes widened as Ed was shining a brilliant red and yelled from pain. On his palms, a transmutation circle was forming on it. Blood dripped from his hand and foot but he concentrated on what he was going to do next before he let the pain get to him. He started floating very weakly and shakily. Yasa was so shocked that he could actually transmute the way she did. It angered her so she rushed to him and compressed the air around him. She wanted to knock him out by thickening the air so much that he could barely breathe but he knew what she was doing. He held his arms toward Yasa and then she felt something around her ankles and wrists tighten. Ed was compressing the air around them faster than Yasa was to him. In seconds, they were struggling to get free, but Ed acted first. Her body moved to the ground and the water shocked her. Yasa's body went limp for a while but then she staggered up.

"I'm not…going to lose." She hardly had enough energy to say anything. "You won't beat me…not that easily. So what if you know my moves. I know how to use them better."

"We'll just see about that," replied Ed.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," said a mysterious voice.

Everyone looked around to see where it was coming from. They all looked in the direction of Central and found a group of boys walking towards them.


	10. What Next?

Chapter 10: What Next?

"Long time no see….Yasa," hissed the boy in the middle of the group. He seemed to be the leader of them.

Yasa squinted her eyes to see if she recognized them. She looked over to Takeshi and he was glaring at them angrily.

"Who are they Takeshi?"

Takeshi looked a bit flabbergasted but said, "Think about it Yasa. A group of boys, your alchemy, revenge…"

Yasa took a while to remember but she finally came to her senses.

"You…you jerks! You guys beat the crap out of us and left us to die!"

The middle boy laughed then the entire group.

"I was a little worried you wouldn't remember us. And by the way, what you did to us was worse."

"How in the world was it worse? It's called pay-back! I think we took it easy on you!"

"You tortured us in cages!"

"You beat us up until we bled!"

"We begged for you to stop!"

"You didn't stop either way. And I was 5 years-old. Yeah, you're really going to get out of this one!" Yasa was infuriated at how they think she should be sorry for beating them in a less violent fashion.

Takeshi stepped forward, fuming. "How long has it been? Six years? That means you guys have to be at least 17 now. What do you want with us?"

"What do we want? It should be obvious. We want revenge." The group started walking towards Yasa and Takeshi.

"Ha! That's what you think," Yasa said.

"We haven't been sitting around doing nothing. You may be a State Alchemist but I know we're stronger than you will ever be." The group laughed again.

Yasa was about to say something else but Zac and Cole interrupted. "Get outta here or we'll kill you. We had to restrain ourselves to not track you down."

Then there was a stir in the middle of the boys. A muffled sound came from them. One of the boys in the front screamed in pain as he held his right leg. A flash of green hair flailed around trying escape.

"Julia? Julia!" Takeshi yelled.

"Take-" The boy holding his leg punched Julia in the face, knocking her out.

"You guys will pay for that!"

Takeshi charged through to the boys and aimed for the one in the middle. He slid on the floor trying to knock him off his feet but the boy grabbed his leg and swung him over his shoulder.

"Takeshi!" Yasa yelled. She was about to run over to help him but Cole caught her arm.

Zac started, "Picking on five year-olds again, Jake? How pitiful." Cole continued, "You must be weak if you throw your weight around with these kids."

Jake began to get angry and grabbed Julia's head. "If you try to fight me I'll torture her! I'm here for Yasa!"

"I'm sorry I just don't think it's all too fair for her to take on 6 or 7 boys all alone."

Everyone turned their heads to see where the voice was coming from. Ed walked next to Yasa and said, "I'm joining in the fun." Takeshi got up and went to Yasa's side too.

Jake took a while to think about it. "Okay, I guess I can let you fight with Yasa and Takeshi. It won't be much of a challenge but it will be entertaining." He laughed then his group.

Zac and Cole gritted their teeth as they thought of what to do. Cole spoke first.

"Well I guess it wouldn't be much of a problem." Zac finished, "Yasa show them what we taught you!"

Yasa laughed. "This_is _going to be fun." Her hair changed from orange to blonde and her eyes from yellow to crimson red like the night at Roy's.

"We'll see about that. Cain, Lucas, Michael, take care of Takeshi. George, Broth, Kendal, handle the runt. I'll go for Yasa."

"Who're you callin' a runt?!" shouted Ed. "That's it, Yasa, let's beat these guys into the ground!"

Lucas was the first to move then Cain and Michael followed closely behind. Takeshi readied himself. He ducked as Michael tried to get him into a choke hold, then he moved to the left as Lucas tried to knee him in the stomach. Takeshi was waiting for Cain to attack but he was just standing there with his arms crossed, waiting for the right time.

Yasa was waiting for Jake to move but he was engrossed in watching everyone else fight. He seemed to be enjoying this. Yasa stood there waiting too, not in a hurry to fight since she was still a bit tattered from her little spare with Ed.

Ed seemed to be enjoying himself as he kept dodging the boys' kicks and punches.

"Is that all you got?" he jeered.

Kendal and George came on both sides of Ed and tried to capture him. He just smiled. "You guys make it too easy." Ed jumped out of the way but apparently George and Kendal figured as much. They charged in Ed's direction and that caught him off guard. He got tackled to the ground but Ed clapped his hands and touched the ground. Suddenly, two hands made of earth grabbed the two boys and held them in mid-air. Broth came from behind Ed and just missed him from the short knife in his hand.

"What the hell?! You guys seriously want to kill us?! Yasa, Takeshi, watch out one of these guys just pulled a knife on me!"

They both gasped. Yasa turned to Jake with wide eyes. "You can't be serious. You want to kill us?"

"Not all of you, just you Yasa," he said excitedly. "But since I found you with other people then I have to get rid of the witnesses." Jake started laughing crazily until a dark figure appeared behind him.

"I'm afraid your plan won't work. I can't be killed." Al lifted up Jake and began squeezing him in a bear hug. He was gasping for air. "Call off your guys, now!"

Jake took no time in telling his boys to stop. "Will you put me down now?"

Yasa and Ed started laughing. "You have got to be out of your damn mind!! You're coming with us!"

Al started walking away while the rest of the boys looked skeptical.

"Hey guys," Jake yelled, "Come on!"

They just looked at each other until Cain spoke. "Um, these guys are State Alchemists. They're gonna let the military handle us."

"I knew we shouldn't have messed with these guys again," Kendal whined.

"Let's run for it!" shouted Broth.

"Hey not so fast!" yelled Yasa.

Ed clapped his hands and they both placed their hands on the ground. A bright green light shined beneath the boys and they were sinking into mud. When the light ended the mud dried and hardened.

"You guys rest. We'll carry them for you." Zac and Cole drew one big transmutation circle and pressed down on it. The ground stirred then the boys were floating individual in there own little mud cast. Zac and Cole lifted them under their arms and followed Al. Jake was moving all about in Al's arms.

"I can't believe you guys would just ditch me here! I never want to see you guys again, you hear! And Yasa this isn't over! I'll come back just you wait!"

Al squeezed down on Jake until he stopped moving. "Oops, I guess I was too rough."

* * *

Later, Yasa, Zac, and Cole said their good-byes too Ed, Al, Takeshi, and Julia and returned home. Yasa pulled out a chair and plopped down. She sighed loudly, "Oh my goodness what is wrong with him?" 

Zac pulled a chair next her and sat in it backwards. "I have no idea. Jake was a bit of an idiot back in the days."

"Today was definitely eventful."

"Hey where have you guys been all day?" Lilia came downstairs to her kids.

They got startled. Zac and Yasa practically jumped out of their seats. They shot worried glances at each other.

"All of your clothes are so worn! And Yasa, your hair and your eyes are its natural color. What were you guys up too?"

"Um, we've just been hanging out with our friends," Yasa said quickly.

"I'm heading for my room." Cole walked upstairs stretching, trying to act tired.

"Me too," Zac yawned.

Yasa followed suit. "Oh I didn't realize it was so late. I'll take a shower."

Lilia watched her kids head upstairs with a suspicious look on her face. She sighed then locked the door. Yasa ran back downstairs and said, "Oh I have a better idea." She ran behind the counter and grabbed a pen, then opened the door and started engraving transmutation circles in its width. She closed the door then put her hand on it. The house flashed a blinding white light. Lilia looked confused.

"Oh, it's our new security system. I learned it from someone." Yasa smiled and skipped off to her room.

* * *

It's been nearly three weeks since Yasa and Ed became State Alchemists and nothing has happened. 

"Is this what being a State Alchemist is all about?!" Yasa complained.

It was Sunday when the restaurant was closed. Yasa was serving drinks to Ed and Takeshi. Al was there too.

"Where did you say your mom and your brothers were?" Takeshi asked.

"They went to get groceries even though we didn't really run out of anything."

"Maybe they just wanted to get out of this boring house," Ed said.

Yasa wanted to get angry but didn't feel like it. "Maybe you're right."

"Let's get out of here then," said Al. He got up and walked to the door. "Why aren't you guys coming?"

Yasa spoke. "Where would we go?"

No one said anything until Ed broke the silence. "How about the Central Library?"

"Me and Al aren't State Alchemists, remember?"

Yasa had a mischievous grin. "We could probably sneak you guys in."

"I'm a suit of armor, remember?"

"Suits of armor, an oven, a piece of candy, they're all the same thing."

Ed looked at Yasa weirdly but sighed. "Well why not? Come on everyone, let's read some books."

They walked towards the library without even the slightest clue on how to get in with Al and Takeshi. Then Al snapped his fingers.

"Oh, I've got it!" He motioned from them to lean in to hear. After a while they all nodded in approval.

"It's definitely better than what I would have thought of," said Yasa.

"I bet you weren't even thinking," laughed Takeshi.

* * *

Everyone was in position. Yasa and Ed made communicators for the others. 

"Strawberry Cupcake is in position. Are you set, Red Licorice?" asked Yasa.

"Red Licorice is set. How about you, Chocolate Malt?" Ed asked.

"Chocolate Malt is ready for action! Apple Strudel?" asked Al.

"Apple Strudel is go! Sweet Pears, are you ready?" asked Julia.

"Why were we dragged here?"

"I said 'Are you ready?'"

Zac and Cole sighed, "Yes, we're ready. Green Candy?"

"Let's just get on with this!" grumbled Takeshi.

Yasa was walking to the entrance of the Central Library while Ed was hiding behind it, waiting to make his move. Julia pushed a stroller with Takeshi in it.

"Sweet Pears remember, you have to distract the guards. And Cole, act like a girl, please," Yasa begged.

There are usually two guards. A man and a woman. Cole wore a light blue blouse with a knee-length jade green pleated skirt that sparkled slightly in the sun. His hair was longer and in a low pigtails. He also wore soft pink sandals that laced up to his knee. Yasa got creative and colored his nails green.

"Why do I have to be the girl?"

"Because you're younger," answered Zac, dully.

Zac wore black slacks with a somewhat formal jacket and a white shirt buttoned up half way.

They looked pretty convincing and nothing like twins. The shirt Cole was wearing didn't reveal much and Zac just looked handsome.

"Cole, you look hot and Zac, if you weren't my brother, I might consider going out with you," Yasa teased.

"Quit babbling you guys, it's getting cramped in here," groaned Takeshi.

"Alright, alright. Strawberry Cupcake moving into action."

Yasa walked forward to the guards and flashed her pocket watch. They let her by easily.

A few minutes pasted and Yasa said, "Now here's where the fun begins. Apple Strudel, you're next."

Julia walked towards the guards with the stroller. They stopped her.

"Sorry, Miss, but only State Alchemists are allowed through," stated the woman.

"Oh, well I was just waiting for my friend to come out and help me babysit," she said motioning to the carriage. The guards came forward to look inside but Julia waved her arms to shoo them away.

"I'm not supposed to let strangers look at him! I'll get in trouble."

They stood there for a while then backed away. The man cleared his throat.

"Well, you still can't come in."

"I know. I'll just wait out here." She walked to the left of the building, pretending to play with a baby. She laughed, "This is so fun, right Takeshi?"

He groaned then talked into his communicator. "Sweet Pears, our job is done for now. Move in."

"Righto." Zac was up first. He came around a corner tugging at his shirt trying to fan himself. He walked casually to the woman guard with a smug smile on his face. He was taller than her and that made the effect even better.

"Oh, sir, do you need any help?" she asked.

He looked straight into her eyes and said, "I'm just looking for a place to rest." He paused. "But when I see your eyes, I feel like myself again. Oh, I'm sorry, my name is Charles but I don't mind being called Charlie." He flashed a smile and looked down. "Charlette, what a lovely name."

The woman couldn't stop looking in his eyes and said, "Um, well, I can't allow you in the library."

The guy beside her noticed Zac and was about to ask what was going on until he heard a girl cry out in distress. Charlette didn't seem to notice.

"Oh! Someone please help!"

The man rushed to the girl's side and he was dazzled. Cole watched his expression and rolled his eyes.

Cole looked up with worried eyes. "My purse, someone took off with it." He batted his eyes pleadingly and looked to his right where the purse snatcher supposedly was.

The man couldn't help but look at his eyes as he said, "We'll find him for you. May I ask your name?"

"Oh, my name is Reneé." He looked down at the man's shirt and said, "And I'm guessing your name is Rane, correct?"

"Yes." Rane couldn't seem to stop looking at Cole.

Both Charlette and Rane were distracted and Yasa was watching from the door of the library.

"This is great. Who knew Zac and Cole were such actors. Sweet Pears are working nicely, it's time for Red Licorice to sweeten things up."

"That's all I need to hear. Red Licorice going into sugar shock!"

Ed closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He clapped his hands and placed them on the ground. The ground began to shake and suddenly there was an explosion in the direction of where Cole was looking. Then there was another blast of debris and a third.

Rane and Charlette turned their heads along with Zac and Cole who were smiling the tiniest of smiles.

"Excuse me but I have business to attend too," said Charlette.

"Maybe we'll meet again," Zac said and winked at her.

"Maybe." Charlette then ran toward the explosions along with Rane who shouted, "It's probably that purse snatcher! We'll take care of him. And I wouldn't mind meeting you again too." He winked and Cole blushed. Not out of flattery, out of embarrassment.

Yasa's eyes brightened as she spoke through her communicator.

"Apple Strudel, Green Candy, Sweet Pears, Chocolate Malt, Red Licorice, when I say 3, run for the Sugar Mountain."

Yasa closed her eyes and changed her hair to a pale pink and her eyes to a sparkling yellow.

"One."

She opened the library door wider and held her arms in front of her.

"Two."

The air around her hands seemed warped until she pushed forward and a blinding white sandstorm formed all around the library.

"Three!"

Ed, Al, Zac, Cole, Julia, and Takeshi ran to the building. Once they were inside, Yasa closed the door softly.

"Let's head for the fourth floor. I told the librarians I needed help in finding The Book of Alchemy which I already knew was on this floor. They'll be back in no time."

Yasa and Ed were leading them quietly through the floors. When they reached, they broke out in laughs.

"That was so fun!" giggled Julia.

"You're telling me," said Zac between breaths.

"Yeah, a real tear in the eye," said Cole sarcastically, but he seemed to be enjoying himself too.

"We have to do that again! Al you're a genius," said Yasa.

"Yeah, thanks Al," laughed Takeshi, rolling his eyes.

"No problem," Al laughed.

Ed was just smiling at what they just did until he turned around to take a seat. He froze in his tracks.

"Uh Yasa? I think we have a problem."

Yasa was still laughing when she turned to Ed but it died down to a nervous laughter. Everyone turned their heads and immediately stopped making any noises.

There was only one sound in the room and that was a smooth laughter coming from the window. Someone was sitting by the window at a table propped up on their hand. The person got up and walked casually towards them still snickering. They came about five feet from them when they stopped.

Yasa gulped. "Hey Roy."

Ed added, "How's it going?"


End file.
